The disclosure relates to the accurate positioning of components of an optical assembly.
In state of the art technologies, it is often desirable to achieve sub-micron accuracy, for example, of alignment between a photonic device and a light guiding circuit. Such accuracy may be necessary to couple the photonic device and the waveguide to each other with high efficiency. The assembly of such photonic components, however, can be a difficult and costly process.
In some state of the art technologies, a photonic device such as a laser diode chip may be optically coupled to a waveguide on a substrate by an active alignment procedure. During such alignment procedures, the components may be manipulated by highly accurate stages. The incoming or outgoing light signal may be monitored during micromanipulation until the optimal transmitted light is determined. The photonic device may then be mechanically fixed in place relative to the waveguide.
As an alternative to active alignment techniques, some technologies use passive alignment techniques which can avoid the need to oscillate the laser diode chip and measure its output during the alignment procedure.